| Did I mention Food?While the French are right | | | | nothing happened. It had no noticeable effect |
| into nouvelle cuisine (in other words, not | | | | on the wine which was quite good.We decided |
| much for helluva lot) you can be certain that | | | | that we would have a good lunch, so headed to |
| in an eastern European restaurant or cafe one | | | | the cafe that my wife, Brenda had spotted - |
| meal and a side salad between two people is | | | | mainly because of the cakes on show. It |
| more than enough.I really should have known | | | | turned out to be an Italian establishment, |
| after our Zagreb experience:* Great Indian | | | | and, as we later discovered, highly regarded. |
| Restaurant - Light meals with rice and wine | | | | The only off putting element was the |
| and beer. Result: Full as a goog for under | | | | proliferation of what appeared to be mafiosi |
| $AU50* Croatian Restaurant - Main meal and | | | | tucking into - you guessed it - large |
| side dish with water. Result: Full as a goog | | | | portions of Italian food. (as we walked |
| for under $AU25.We get into Sofia, Bulgaria | | | | around Sofia, we realised that just about all |
| and make our way to what appears to be a | | | | the men looked like gangsters!)Brenda ordered |
| trendy restaurant and bar. Admittedly, we | | | | a meal with a potato side dish, but I, wising |
| probably got the wrong meal, but two big | | | | up to the very large meals, skipped the side |
| plates of cold meat and salad and one bottle | | | | meal and went with the main course. Lucky |
| of wine (by appointment to the King of | | | | that. After going through 350 grams of Pork |
| somewhere) later, we would have been knocked | | | | Milanese (they mention the weight of all the |
| over by the price. That is, if we were able | | | | foods on the menu - including the salads) in |
| to get up after cleaning up the plates.The | | | | addition to what could be termed old style |
| price of less than $AU16 was a bargain even | | | | chips, I could not fit in another thing. |
| with the entertainment of the establishment's | | | | Except, of course, the "small" serving of |
| owner trying to open the wine, then just | | | | bread which I don't know the weight of but |
| about smashing it into the marble table as | | | | guessed to be about half a kilo. It was |
| the cork suddenly decided to part ways with | | | | beautiful bread, but I just could not finish |
| the bottle.An elementary knowledge of physics | | | | the last two bits.Was going to ask for a |
| would tell any casual observer that when that | | | | doggy bag, but thought it was a bit rich as |
| moment arrived, the corkscrew hand was going | | | | the swanky place charged us about $AU30 |
| to go up and the bottle hand was going to go | | | | -outrageous!Now that we are on the train to |
| down. Seeing the bottle hand was near the top | | | | our eagerly anticipated Turkey leg (no pun |
| of the bottle, there was no way of cushioning | | | | originally intended, but why not) of the |
| the bottom of the bottle from the impact of | | | | tour, we have the luxury of a litre of |
| the marble only 5 centimetres below. As in a | | | | bottled water, a weird looking block of |
| train wreck, I knew of the result but was | | | | chocolate, two tic tacs (1 orange and 1 mint) |
| powerless to prevent it happening. They make | | | | and a single piece of pizza the size of |
| bottles strong in Bulgaria, as the only | | | | Lichtenstein. We are in for a $AU4 |
| breakage to be seen was the composure of the | | | | feast.Vsichko hubavo to all.Raymond Strachan |
| restauranteur. Fortunately, unlike Humpty | | | | loves life and tries to give it 110% at least |
| Dumpty, he was able to put it all back | | | | 91% of the time. A quick look at the |
| together fairly quickly and we all pretended | | | | calculator will comfirm a 100% total. |